Displaced

Wicken - Twenty-One

A loud blaring alarm woke me up some time later. I'm not sure how many hours passed exactly, but they were enough for me to get a decent amount of sleep once I finally stopped shivering. I zonked out long before my other roommates got back in. Fine by me, really, because I sure was not in the mood to meet the entire clan.

At whatever hour of the morning it was, however, I got to see all of them in action. They all jumped out of bed and started to strip right there in the middle of the room. Normally, it wouldn't bother me. Guys do that kind of thing all of the time at the gym, but most guys didn't have a number of scars all over their bodies. They were fairly fresh too, and not from things like gang fights. These scars were deep and long, like they'd been put there by a whip.

Slowly, I sat up in bed and got out. Of course, I wasn't sure what I was supposed to be doing. Were there clothes for me too? Was I supposed to follow these guys? What was going on? Justice clapped an arm around my shoulders and brought me out of the room.

"Orientation," he said. "They'll feed you, and then give you the lowdown on what you're supposed to be doing. It's tough, but just keep hanging in there. Down the hall, last door on the right. Hurry up so you're not late."

The orientation room was small and cramped. A number of other young men filled it, most of whom I recognized from the line I'd been forced to stand in yesterday. Patriarch entered last and I was grateful to see him again. I hadn't made any decisions about joining his Preservation Movement, but I trusted him all the same. After all, he'd given me the benefit of the doubt. I could extend to him the same common courtesy. Besides, if he was a bad guy, he wouldn't be trying so hard to preserve our way of life.

Patriarch stood in front of us for a few seconds, silent. Running and shouting could be heard from outside the door. He didn't seem too alarmed, so I wouldn't be either. No doubt, it was probably just part of the regular chaos of the day.

After a moment, he folded his arms in front of him. "Yesterday, you got the tour and the opportunity to rest. Not to mention a few ground rules. Today, you meet my superiors and enter the deepest areas of The Pit."

I swallowed, not liking the sound of that.

"When you see the Achlivans, don't stare at them. They don't like that, for obvious reasons. Whatever they tell you to do, you give them the same answer that you would me. 'Yes, sir,' 'No, sir,' 'Please repeat, sir,' and so on so forth. Giving them respect will get you a lot further than giving them sass." Patriarch gave me a pointed look. Already, I had a reputation for being trouble.

As much as I wanted to roll my eyes, I didn't. Regardless of if Patriarch liked my spunk, there was a time and place for that kind of behavior. Disrespecting him in front of my peers was obviously stupid.

"You'll be spending the entire day down in the Deep," he continued. "It's their way of warning you to be good, or else. So be good. Or else. Your behavior during this test is going to impact your placement. Like I said yesterday, I run a restaurant on the roof. Just because I hand-picked you to be a part of my team, doesn't mean you get to stay there. Don't mess up down there. No matter what happens, no matter what they try to make you do, just keep a level head, prove to them you're an asset, and obey."

I could already tell this was going to be a lot more intense than he was letting on. Going down into the Deep, as he called it, was going to entail a whole lot more than standard work. The part that had me most nervous was where he said "no matter what they try to make you do." What exactly were these aliens going to expect from us?

Patriarch must have sensed my distress because his expression softened. Of course, I probably wasn't the only one who was concerned. For the most part, I tended to be pretty level-headed. I didn't sway easily because of my emotions, and especially didn't sweat the small stuff. Going to the Deep was making me sweat. If I was sweating, someone else was probably about ready to poop their pants. One quick glance around at the other guys showed me a lot of mixed reactions. Some of them were pale and shivering, and others were actually looking rather bored. Maybe not everyone understood what was going on, or maybe they didn't believe any of it was real. I'd certainly woken up hoping for the whole thing to be nothing more than a bizarre cheese-induced dream.

It wasn't. That's the thing I had to keep reminding myself. I was very much awake, and still in a spaceship. A lot of that was still surreal to me, and it would take some time to absorb – to become solid. But I refused to freak out.

"Eat something, but try not to eat too much. You'll be working hard. Pacing yourself is a good idea. The Achlivans won't be sympathetic to stomachs cramping, and you'll want to keep as much of your food inside of you as possible." Patriarch was so matter of fact. I admired his ability to be straight with us. How long had he been on the ship to begin with? He seemed far too comfortable and knowledgeable to be fairly new. Which raised a whole new question: how long have the Achlivans been taking people from their homes?

With a short wave, beckoning us, Patriarch walked out of a door in the front corner of the room. It was opposite of the one we had entered through. No clue where it went, but I got the feeling we were supposed to follow him. So I did. Patriarch was waiting right outside of the door. There he handed me a box and a water bottle.

"I mean it, pace yourself, especially with the water. Refills aren't as often as you'd like," he said.

I forced him to make eye-contact with me. "What are we going to be doing down there exactly?"

"Whatever they say. It's different every time." He nudged me forward so he could give the next guy his care package.

There were chairs in this next room, so I found a place to sit, wanting to take advantage of the opportunity to rest while I still had it. Opening my box, I found peanut butter, sliced apples, a bagel, a banana, some nuts, and cheese. I put the peanut butter on the bagel, not necessarily digging the stuff, but the protein would be wanted. The first thing I ate was the apples, then the bagel, and finally the cheese. Everything else I squeezed into my pockets for later. If water was going to be scarce, what about food?

I glanced around the room, making sure no one was watching me just in case I'd get into some kind of trouble. All the other guys were eating quietly. It was an eerie sight. Like we were all eating our last meal, or something. Patriarch was watching me, however. When our gazes met, he nodded, and I hoped that meant he approved of what I was doing.

After some time passed, he filled up our bottles with water. I took one swish to wash down the sticky feeling remaining in my mouth from the peanut butter. The rest was getting saved, no matter how thirsty I already was.

Patriarch opened another door. An orange glow radiated over a set of metal stairs descending in a spiral. When I peeked my head in, I couldn't see the bottom. It was like looking into the depths of the underworld. I tried to step back, but all of the other guys had crowded behind me. One of them pushed me forward and I almost lost my footing. Falling down all of those stairs would have probably killed me. What was at the bottom of them might well do it too.

I glared back at my attacker and then took a tentative step forward. No burning in my soul, but there was a faint heat as well. Just pass the test, and you're one step closer to getting home.